Lunch & Art Dialogue: From Animal to Plant-Based Eating

What to Expect

• Opening Introduction - A brief overview of the protein transition and its relevance to sustainable food systems.
• Artistic Presentations - Three artists will each present their unique artistic response to scientific work in this domain. Each presentation lasts 20 minutes, offering insights into different perspectives and mediums.
• Dialogue & Reflection - The artworks are designed to spark open conversation about the future of food and sustainable diets.

This event is part of a special outreach project that uses art to engage with scientific themes and encourage public dialogue.

About the art and artists

Eric Langendoen
Eric Langendoen works as a theatre maker, performer, designer and visual artist. He approaches subjects from both an artistic and scientific background with accessible humour and imagery. He strives for both simplicity and monumentality, for straightforward and tactile shapes. He likes to create installations and light art for audiences to interact with.

Art: Koetjeskroos
A surrealist approach to the idea of replacing animal protein with plant protein: looking beyond the pastures where animal protein producers metabolize (call them cows), in the canal surrounding the meadow we see the protein of the future grow. Vertical farming takes on new meaning as cow/duckweed hybrids float past.

Berkveldt
Berkveldt is a multidisciplinary art studio based in Rotterdam founded by Noëlle Ingeveldt and Juriaan van Berkel. They use artistic research to explore humanity's relationship with nature. Their immersive audiovisual installations and magical realism-based work challenge our perceptions and incorporate non-human perspectives.

Art: Perlijn, How a Pod Taught the Earth to Listen
Perlijn is a scenographic installation and mythical narrative about transformation, interconnectedness, and the promise of a renewed relationship with the earth. It is a symbol of another kind of agriculture in which humans and nature come together.

The work is inspired by Pythagorean thought, which held that beans could contain souls and that they resemble an embryo, thus symbolizing the beginning of all life. In this narrative, the pod becomes the beating heart of reciprocity: a source of nourishment and connection between human, plant, and earth.

The work was created in collaboration with scientist Frank Lee Harris, Donát István Kuti (composition and sound design), Otto Calmeijer Meijburg (voice-over), Stacy Pyett (text editing), Arjan Sterken (advice mythology and folklore), Maaike Nieuwland (WUR Leapt), and Remco de Kluizenaar (artistic guidance).

Kristina Mau Hansen
Kristina Mau Hansen is a sound artist, field recordist and artistic researcher with a background in Cultural Geography. Her work attunes to the relations between people and places and explores the role of sound in people’s everyday lives. She is from the Danish minority in Germany and currently based in Arnhem, NL.

Art: “When we listen to the Beetle Bean” is a sound and storytelling performance exploring the translocal story of the beetle bean (pronkboon). Through voice, field recordings, and a custom ‘beanstrument,’ it reflects on cultivation, migration, and food heritage, inviting listeners to engage with the bean’s role in landscapes, kitchens, and memory.